Former Manly Sea Eagles stars Moses Suli and Sione Fainu have remembered the moment they saw their teammate Keith Titmuss screaming after he collapsed during training.
The 20-year-old lost consciousness during pre-season training at the team’s headquarters on Sydney’s northern beaches on November 23, 2020.
A coronial inquest heard several experts had concluded he was suffering from exertional heat stroke when he had a seizure after the first training session.
Mr Titmuss was rushed to hospital, where he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
On Tuesday, a coronial inquest into his sudden death heard from former Manly star and current St George Illawarra player Moses Suli.
He told Lidcombe Coroners Court he saw Mr Titmuss lying on the ground of the indoor gym after the “pretty hard” training session.
“He was just laying there screaming,” he said.
“I couldn’t do nothing.”
Former Manly star and current West Tigers player Sione Fainu said he’d heard Mr Titmuss complain about cramping after the session finished.
He went to have a shower but ran back into the room when he heard Mr Titmuss screaming.
Both players were moved on by coaching staff as an ambulance arrived to rush the 20-year-old to hospital, where he died later that day.
Mr Fainu told the inquest he had been speaking to Mr Titmuss before the training session, and everything was “sweet” and “normal”.
He explained the day was “pretty hot” and rated the training session as a nine out of ten in terms of intensity.
Mr Fainu saw Mr Titmuss struggling throughout the drills, but said it wasn’t unusual because “everyone was struggling”.
There was an opportunity to have a break if you were having a hard time, he explained, but no one took it. Instead, they encouraged each other to complete the session.
“We had to get through, push through. Everyone was pushing Keith,” Mr Fainu told police.
However, the inquest heard on Monday that former head coach Des Hasler described the training session as “not (an) overly strenuous or taxing session”
Mr Titmuss’ former teammate Ben Trbojevic will also give evidence before Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee on Tuesday.
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